Phil Lee & Other Old Time Favorites. Palookaville Entertainment

Posted on by

a1579896346_10

We’ve mentioned before on several occasions that we are huge fans of the irreverent Phil Lee. While his albums are always a pleasure to listen to, he adds his impish sense of fun to much of what he records, giving them an added sparkle. In addition, he has a fascinating back story and so it’s not too much of a surprise to read that his latest album, a smashing collection of songs done in an old-fashioned country style, was influenced by his tenure (aged 12!) as the drummer for Homer A. Briarhopper’s band on an early morning TV show back in the 60s. Sounds made up? Well, according to Google it’s true.

It’s a lockdown album, recorded with just Lee on guitars, harmonica and drums with producer David West adding electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, keyboards and a wealth of other instruments. Most of the songs are Lee’s own with a couple of traditional numbers thrown in for good measure. They’re all short and snappy with Lee saying he wanted to make an album his mother would like and which “white people could dance to.”

The album kicks off with a classic country two stepper, Did You Ever Miss Someone, with West’s Dobro and mandolin already demanding attention while Lee sounds just perfect as he relays his loss. Coming in at under two minutes it’s a perfect opener. When’s The Lovin’ Coming Back has more of a trucker’s feel to it with West laying down some fine humbucking guitar licks and I Like Women digs into Western swing with Lee getting away with not being too salacious. He does however inhabit the lyric with fervour on a highly infectious song which, one again, is greatly energised by West’s numerous guitar parts while he also provides the backing vocals.

Might As Well be Me slows the pace down as Lee sings a brilliant down at heel story of a luckless musician on the road. While it’s not exactly Nashville countrypolitan in its delivery it is classic country and is up there with the likes of Charley Crockett and Joshua Headley’s reclamation of classic country sounds. Next, there’s a dive into the real old Americana as Lee tackles a Child ballad on The Devil And The Farmer’s Wife and again, he does it brilliantly with banjo and mandolin bravely plucking away. Forever After All retains the mandolin as Lee almost gets sentimental on a tremendous number which follows a couple from their wedding day to the twilight of their years. It tugs at the heartstrings while having an unalloyed heart of gold at its centre. There’s also a great degree of sentiment on the tale of a broke up family on Where Is The Family Today which finds Lee touching on John Prine territory.

Daddy’s Jail is a fine shit kicking slice of rock’n’roll and apparently recalls Lee’s youth when he was a bit rambunctious while his father ran the Durham County jail in North Carolina. Wake Up Crying appeared on Lee’s previous album, Phil Lee & The Horse He Rode In On, recorded with his old buddies, Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina of Crazy Horse. There it was given a vintage 1960s Who like charge, here it’s delivered as a rollicking banjo driven bluegrass number with West magnificently parrying with himself on the various solos. The album closes with an excellent version of Just A Closer Walk With Thee, a song Lee says he has wanted to do since seeing Harry dean Stanton sing it in Cool Hand Luke but sung here in an Elvis and The Jordanaires gospel style. It brings this excellent album to a handsome close.

Website

Phil Lee. Some Gotta Lose… Palookaville Records

Posted on by

A new album from Phil Lee is cause for celebration, a musical Maverick perhaps but as Blabber’n’Smoke said in the review of his previous album, “he captures what may be the true sense of Americana, able to toss songs off with just an acoustic guitar that stand alongside the likes of John Prine, hit the honky tonks with tremendous truck driving stories, dig a southern soul groove or get deep and dirty with the blues. Irreverent, profane and above all laughing at the cosmic irrelevance of it all.”  And so it is with his latest, Some Gotta Lose… the title coming about as Lee explains in a recent interview with Blaine Schultz., “Mainly I got the idea from never having a snappy come back to the query, “you’re so dang fabulous (I paraphrase) how come it is I’ve never heard of you?” (That with the implication it’s somehow it’s my fault. The noive)…My pat answer became ‘Hey, some gotta lose’.”

It’s this sense of not taking himself too seriously that endears him to many but deep down Lee is seriously stewed in rock’n’roll with a back history that would make a fine biopic peopled with the likes of Neil Young, The Burritos, Wilco and Alison Moorer. Above all he’s a gifted songwriter and his albums should never ever be filed under humour despite the occasional joke.

Produced by Willy Mason Some Gotta Lose… is a wonderfully warm and loose limbed album. Recorded pretty much live, warts and all in a house in upstate New York Lee visits the blues, country, soul and even tango with his band hitting a fine groove throughout. Drums rattle and guitars buzz and burn, the organ glowers and Lee’s hipster voice is accompanied by female harmonies on several of the songs. The groove is important with Lee explaining that the live recording set up allowed the band to stretch out at times trying “telepathically to figure out who should play a solo or just hang out.” There’s some bum notes apparently but the overall impression is of a bunch of musicians cutting loose and having a great time.

The album opens with the Southern soulfulness of Ain’t No Love with guitar licks aplenty summoning up a swampy rhythm before harmonies and harmonica glide in. Halfway through the song picks up tempo as the band riff on the melody while Lee sings the chorus before taking it home. There’s more Southern grooves on Don’t tell me Now with Lee getting lascivious with an ex who has blossomed into a catch whose “breasts got fuller and kiss got sweeter.” Lee and the band plead wonderfully with yearning guitar echoing his sentiments as the song meanders to its end. Sex rears its head again on No Taking It Back only here Lee is hesitant in the moment of triumph, pondering the aftermath while the churchlike organ drenched This One is another soulful meditation on a past lover that is bitter sweet in its Muscle Shoal type delivery. Lee ends this song on harmonica as the organ swells taking it into Stray Gators territory.

Wake Up Crying is a zippy Dylan fuelled 60’s blast sounding like an outtake from Highway 61 with Bloomfield like guitar bursts and there’s some real retro rockabilly on the cover of the traditional Lil Liza Jane. Kiss Of Fire is an audacious tango with Lee playing up to his comic persona but even so its compelling listening. Finally, there’s the country lament of If Frogs Had Wings, a fiddle sawing away offering comparison to Dylan again, this time circa Desire. A death row prisoner’s final thoughts with Peckinpah imagery thrown in it’s simply fantastic.

website

The David Latto Band. The Glad Cafe, Glasgow. Sunday 27th April.

Posted on by

latto

Shamefully this was Blabber’n’Smoke’s first attendance at Southside Americana which takes place virtually on our doorstep hosted by the fine establishment that is Shawland’s Glad Cafe. The occasion was a rare Glasgow show by The David Latto Band promoting their new EP, Here Today, Ghost Tomorrow, reviewed here. The EP and their preceding self titled album both portray this young band in a fine light with some excellent writing and good old fashioned musical chops and they proceeded to confirm these skills with what was, all in all, an very fine set.

All acoustic tonight other than electric bass we were robbed of some of the electrical embellishment that they throw into the studio recordings when required but Latto and Gavin Brady’s finger picking more than made up for that whether they were scrubbing frantically on Byway Man, soloing on We Cannot Be Friends Anymore (the lead song on the EP and written by their chum, Phil Lee) or casually strumming the West Coast sound of Wait A Minute. With John Mather (on bass) and John Alexander (doing some sterling work on Cajon and a tambourine) along with Brady all harmonising the overall sound was reminiscent of seventies LA canyon bands like Poco or even the Eagles with Latto himself proving to be an assured and confident singer at the front.

There were several highlights with Here today, Ghost Tomorrow standing out with its sense of loss and regret, perfectly conveyed by the band. Every Now and Then was as soulful live as on the disc However 3000 Miles From Nashville, inspired by Shetland fisherman, Thomas Fraser whose Jimmy Rogers inspired recordings were only recently discovered, was somewhat stunning. A romantic tribute to “the truest Scottish lonestar” it captured some of the late Gene Clark’s spirit tonight. Winding up with the raucous hymn to booze, God, I’m Drinking Tonight they certainly won over the audience judging by the queue at the merch table after their set. They play Edinburgh’s Summerhall on May 9th before some dates in England and then a short tour in France. If you can’t catch them you can buy the EP here.

The David Latto Band. Here Today, Ghost Tomorrow EP

Posted on by

The local talent keeps piling it on with this excellent EP from Fife’s David Latto Band. Blabber’n’Smoke reviewed Latto’s last album here saying it was a “fine slice of country influenced songs featuring some fine back porch picking and an excellent ear for the idiom.” Since then the band have been gigging hard and last summer they accompanied Blabber’n’Smoke hero Phil Lee on his European tour striking up a camaraderie with the pint sized, wise cracking, knife throwing self proclaimed Mighty King of Love. So much so that one of Lee’s songs is point man for the band’s latest foray, a four song EP released this week which they will be promoting on a mini tour of the central belt before they head off to the continent.
We Cannot Be Friends Anymore (from 2009’s So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You) shows Lee to be much more than a comedic songster with its Dylan like put down and wild mercury sound. The Latto band beef it up somewhat giving it a more pugnacious and defiant air as the guitars churn with Latto more accusatory than Lee, incensed rather than sarcastic. It’s a belter of a song and the band work it up to a fine climax. Here Today, Ghost Tomorrow brings us back to earth with a bump. Starting off with a melancholic voice and strummed guitar it soon shifts gear into a gently propulsive country shuffle with guitar shimmering in the background as Latto describes a ghost town of sorts as folk leave for brighter lights. As relevant to small town Scotland as a US troubadour singing about their homeland the badlands of Fife are commemorated here in a manner that James Yorkston might be proud of. Every Now And Then summons up some Caledonia soul with the band laying down a fine backbeat as Latto sings with some conviction although one can’t but regret the lack of some soulful horns which would add a Muscle Shoals touch. Long Time Coming wraps up the EP with a banjo backbone giving a fine rustic feel to a song of aspiration and vision that ripples from the speakers and offers evidence that Latto is growing into a fine songwriter as the song recalls the likes of Jackson Browne in his early years.

The EP’s a steal at only £5 from here while you can catch the band on these dates.

April 19th – Jubilee Hall, Burnturk, SCO

April 27th – Glad Café, Glasgow, SCO

May 9th- Summerhall, Edinburgh, SCO

June 28th- House Concert, Lincolnshire, ENG

June 29th – The Cask in Hand, Holbeach, ENG

July 1st – TBC, FRA

July 2nd – Metz en Fete, Metz,FRA

July 3rd – Le Lapin Blanc, Réding, FRA

July 4th – TBC, FRA

July 5th – Le Bouche a Oreille, Villenueve sur Yonne, FRA

July 6th – TBC, FRA

August 2nd- Moniaive Memorial Hall, SCO

Phil Lee with Hamish Roberts. Tintos Tapas Bar, East Kilbride.

Posted on by

P1010267
Nashville troubadour and man of the world, self styled Mighty King of Love, Phil Lee has been touring as part of a package deal put together by Rob Ellen’s Medicine Show. With the mighty Lee in the driving seat this nod to the old fashioned package tours has featured guest stars along the way and in Glasgow this week Mary Jean Lewis, niece of the infamous Jerry was on the bill. The Gods however were unfavourable towards your Blabber’n’Smoke scribe as events crashed into one another resulting in a no go to the show. Fate smiled however when it transpired that the prospect of a gig free day so alarmed the miniature dynamo that a guerrilla attack on the quiet backwater of the Old Village in East Kilbride was hastily arranged and so it was that Blabber’n’Smoke along with around 30 others were privileged to see Lee and current sidekick Hamish Roberts in the cosy surroundings of Tintos Tapas Bar for an evening of unalloyed enjoyment as Lee sung, talked, joked, played and played with the audience.

Hamish Roberts, occasional guitarist with the Slim Panatelas opened the evening with a fine set that displayed his undoubted dexterity on guitar. Covers of Hendrix’s Wind Cries Mary, Tony Joe White’s As The Crow Flies and Steve Stills’ Treetop Flyer were well crafted while his slide work on Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out was a treat. A self penned instrumental that included some snatches of Wild Mountain Thyme recalled the work of John Martyn and was mesmerising.

Time for The Mighty King of Love to appear and Lee, dapper in appearance like a frontier medicine man a wee bit too fond of his own potions effortlessly slipped into gear from the off. Armed with guitar and harmonica he came across like a pixie Dylan or Guthrie with some wicked quips and an eye for the girls in the audience. Singing about living with a stripper or losing himself in the generous folds of flesh of Jemima James he plays up to his faded Lothario persona much to the audience’s delight with Every Time’s couplet “Every time I see you nude I want to give your number to another dude” gathering guffaws of laughter. Humour aside Lee performs these songs with a great degree of aplomb while his voice, a close relation to Dylan’s never sounds mannered or forced, in fact it sounds as if he’s having as good a time as his audience. Solo at the start Lee was joined for most of the set by Roberts who provided some sterling backup guitar despite his having to run into the street for tuning up as Lee accused him of being a perfectionist. Together they made a fine noise and away from the talking blues numbers and humorous asides Lee reminded us that he’s a great songwriter wringing pathos from Just Some Girl and whipping up a storm on the magnificent Babylon which was given an extended workout allowing Roberts to play some fine solos. For the encores Lee had some of the audience up dancing as he delved into rockabilly and then was persuaded back for a rock’n’roll medley which melded Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On and Shake Your Moneymaker. The audience lapped this up and by the end an hour and a half of Lee just didn’t seem enough.
This was an excellent opportunity to see a veteran and accomplished musician at close range. If you’re quick you can catch him at Belladrum at the weekend before he heads south for some English dates.
website

Album review

Phil Lee. The Fall & Further Decline of The Mighty King of Love

Posted on by

Who exactly is Phil Lee and why does he matter? Well, if you read his biography he’s been a “Zelig” type figure on the “scene” for several decades now. Drumming, roadying for Neil Young, throwing knives, bootleg running and God knows what else. He’s invariably dressed as a cowboy dude, looks scary enough to scare the pants off of Phil Spector , kind of a cross between Killer Bob in Twin Peaks and Phil Kaufman, raconteur extraordinaire, the man who scared Charlie Manson and stole Gram Parson’s corpse and set it on fire in the desert.
So now we know a little bit about Lee, why does he matter? Well, over the course of several albums he’s captured what may be the true sense of Americana, able to toss songs off with just an acoustic guitar that stand alongside the likes of John Prine (see the title song to You Should Have Known Me Then), hit the honky tonks with tremendous truck driving stories, dig a southern soul groove or get deep and dirty with the blues. He does all of this and he does it with style. Irreverent, profane (radio stations beware) and above all laughing at the cosmic irrelevance of it all, Lee is a Maverick who , at the end of the day, simply makes fantastic records and thrills audiences at his live shows.
The Fall & Further Decline of the Mighty King of Love showcases Lee’s love of the Americana idiom with a brace of songs that embrace country, folk, blues and soul while his self mocking humour is apparent from the start with the cover art featuring him seated with the splendidly tattooed Ruth Buckler. While he scatters this self same wit through some of the songs it’s in no way a comedy album. While Every Time , an old fashioned folk skiffle of an anti love song has the immortal line Every time I see you nude, I wanna give your number to another dude and others of a similar ilk it’s a fine number that one could imagine Dylan carrying off when he was a bit of a joker in his early NY folkie days. Speaking of Dylan That’s All You Need is a dead ringer for the man circa Infidels.
Lee kicks the album off with the gospel tones of I Hated To See You Go, co-written with Barry Goldberg (another Dylan connection there) before shifting into the infectious chicken strut that is Blues In Reverse sounding like The Fabulous Thunderbirds with an insidious sexy slink in their walk. Cold Ground’s harmonica playing roots the song in 70’s songwriter territory as Lee sings convincingly of bereavement as his character desperately seeks for ways to turn the clock back and return his lover. It’s almost back to the fifties for the swoonful drama of The Hobo’s Girl although the excellent band playing gives the song a punch with George Bradfute’s slide guitar standing out. I Like Everything harks back to the past as well with cheesy organ giving it a 60’s feel as Lee runs through a salacious list of his girl’s attributes with undisguised glee. A little bit mambo, a little bit Tex-Mex describes the excellent ditty that is She Don’t Let Love Get In The Way and again the guitars shine with producer Richard Bennett excelling on Raquinto. Overall Lee has picked a fine bunch of musicians here with Ken Coomer on drums and Dave Roe on bass in addition to Bennett and Bradfute. Together they easily inhabit the different styles on show while Lee himself is no mean singer.
The album closes with a taste of Lee unplugged and live as he entertains a crowd with It Can’t Hurt, a fine example of his uproarious live show. Good news is he’s coming over in the summer so keep an eye open for a chance to catch him. And while you’re waiting mosey over to his website where he gives a song by song rundown of the album that truly captures his essence.

website